Inherited vintage fishing Reel(Penn 200 Surfmaster)

[DrChicken]

Hey guys,

I used to go fishing with a friend's grandfather at Empire bay when I was younger, and when he passed he left me an old drag reel I left in storage. I want to start using it but both the manual is too discoloured to read. It's a Penn Surfmaster 200, 2 spools (the lighter plastic one is currently on it). It's oiled, perfect condition and came boxed with the aluminium spool and reel clamps.

I'm mostly around the harbour so the only other type of stuff I'd do is rock fishing. I was hoping I could get some advice:

- Which spool should I use? I understand that the aluminium spool would cause backlash if I'm not that good at casting (which I'm not)

- how much maintenance would it need, i.e takedown and oiling? every second or third trip?

- What line should I use if I want to focus on casting and avoiding backlash?

- What length rod should I aim for (from what I read I should be aiming for no shorter than 2.7m)?

Thanks in advance, even if to point me in the right direction for looking for info. I know potatoes about potatoes.

UPDATE: Photos attached. I haven't disassembled it yet given I want to do that when I follow the guide I found (Thanks Crossfire63!) when I open it up to work on it as opposed to just doing it for photos. Also I need to be careful of a couple of small parts that apparently spring out when I do.

Thanks again

Edited May 27, 2016 by DrChicken

[Guest]

Wack some pictures up of your reel

[DrChicken]

Got it, will take photos and put up as soon as I get home after work!

[Crossfire63]

They were built as a cheaper version of the Penn Sqidder

The plastic spool was provided to make the reel more castable. If your a novice at this type of reel I would suggest that you pull the left hand side plate off and clean the spool bearings and grease them with a marine grease. This will have the effect of slowing the reel down making it easier to cast .

Once you get the hand of casting it you can clean the grease out and replace it with light oil the reel will cast further with less backlash.

If its a black one its a run of the mill Surfmaster. If you've got a maroon one very few were made and it may be worth cleaning it up as a collectors item.

I've also sent you a link which will help you out.

There are all sorts of goodies available for these reels to pimp them up.

Corb

[DrChicken]

They were built as a cheaper version of the Penn Sqidder

The plastic spool was provided to make the reel more castable. If your a novice at this type of reel I would suggest that you pull the left hand side plate off and clean the spool bearings and grease them with a marine grease. This will have the effect of slowing the reel down making it easier to cast .

Once you get the hand of casting it you can clean the grease out and replace it with light oil the reel will cast further with less backlash.

If its a black one its a run of the mill Surfmaster. If you've got a maroon one very few were made and it may be worth cleaning it up as a collectors item.

I've also sent you a link which will help you out.

There are all sorts of goodies available for these reels to pimp them up.

Corb

Thanks muchly for the info, It's been a great help. Looks like I've got a bit of learning to do, but I really want this as a workhorse reel, and my mate would've appreciated it. thanks again!

[Crossfire63]

Hmmm.. That one looks like it hasn't done a lot of work.

I'd be getting onto that other web site as a guide and I'd be stripping the whole thing down, cleaning it out and re greasing it before I used it.

There's a good chance that the grease has gone off inside.

While you've got it a part you may as well put some carbon fibre drag washers in it and give it a decent drag

Edited May 27, 2016 by Crossfire63

[DrChicken]

Hmmm.. That one looks like it hasn't done a lot of work.

I'd be getting onto that other web site as a guide and I'd be stripping the whole thing down, cleaning it out and re greasing it before I used it.

There's a good chance that the grease has gone off inside.

While you've got it a part you may as well put some carbon fibre drag washers in it and give it a decent drag

That's what I thought too - There's an original tube of grease in the box too but I'll get some fresh stuff.